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In the 1950s, the musical had two different choices of structure: the musical play and musical comedy. The two forms had much in common, but one element especially: interesting stories, untried stories, and stories with an angle were what producers wanted to stage, what authors wanted to write, and what performers wanted to play. It is notable that, while no twenties musical saw its script published for a reading audience in the 1920s, six thirties titles were published in the 1930s, and about fifteen were published in the 1940s. But in the 1950s virtually every successful show (and a few...

In the 1950s, the musical had two different choices of structure: the musical play and musical comedy. The two forms had much in common, but one element especially: interesting stories, untried stories, and stories with an angle were what producers wanted to stage, what authors wanted to write, and what performers wanted to play. It is notable that, while no twenties musical saw its script published for a reading audience in the 1920s, six thirties titles were published in the 1930s, and about fifteen were published in the 1940s. But in the 1950s virtually every successful show (and a few failures) was issued in book form. Clearly, the scripts were getting interesting; and here are two interesting tales for you, both set on the waterfront. In one, a young man obsessed with sea travel impregnates, than abandons, the girl he loves, forcing her to wed a tolerant older man hungry for a male heir. Then the young man returns. In the second story, a man-hating prostitute, reunited with her father, becomes rehabilitated, especially after falling in love with a sailor. Then he learns of her past and cruelly rejects her.